Argonnessen: A Draconic Exaltation

Half Elf

Believed to be the created of a combination of human and elven blood as long ago as Argonnessen is old, the Half Elves are at once the most revered of the lesser races and the most reviled. Many humans that fear and despise the True Dragons see the Half Elves as proof of Draconic manipulation in the blood of man and claim that generations ago, when the Dragon Overlords first brought mankind and elvenkind to the continent, they were put into captivity and forced to breed like cattle. There are rumors that such interbreeding facilities still exist deep with the Flights of The Thousand, but unsubstantiated rumors at best.

Many believe that it is more likely that mankind and elvenkind found a kinship in the peril that they must have felt in a world full of Dragons and through that kinship, babies were born. The fact that so many humans and elves live side by side in the great cities of Argonnessen is certainly a point in favor of the later argument. Whatever the case may be, the Half Elves are a race onto themselves – more graceful like their elven ancestors and yet much more spontaneous and filled with ingenuity like their human ancestors. Some say that they are the best the lesser races have to offer, though not often in the hearing of a human or elf.

Like humans, Half Elves can be found in almost any section of life in Argonnessen but are most often found in the free cities of Io’lokar and New Sharn where the city’s very metropolitan natures allow them to fit in better. The Half Elven district is one of the seedier in New Sharn – home to many of the brothels and gambling establishments with the city limits. There are also a number of half elves serving as slaves to Flights of The Thousand as Dragons, especially, seem to enjoy the rare mix of humanity and elven nature that they provide. Most of these slaves are treated with great reverence and respect and live out lavish, pampered lives.

Physical Description: Half-elves stand taller than humans but shorter than elves. They inherit the lean build and comely features of their elven lineage, but their skin color is normally dictated by their human side. While half-elves retain the pointed ears of elves, theirs are more rounded and less pronounced. Their eyes tend to be human-like in shape, but feature an exotic range of colors from amber or violet to emerald green and deep blue. This pattern changes for half-elves of drow descent, however. Such elves are almost unfailingly marked with the white or silver hair of the drow parent, and more often than not have dusky gray skin that takes on a purplish or bluish tinge in the right light, while their eye color usually favors that of the human parent.

Society: Half elven society is a changeable as that of their human ancestors. Many live among the other races in the metropolitan cities of Argonnessen with no notice who WHO they are, while others flock together to be closer to their own kind. Some of the half-elves of the city of New Sharn have formed together to create a crime syndicate which controls much of the gambling and brothers within the city limits. Any half-elf may live within their territories and receive protection – as to whether a particular Half Elf agrees with their practices, it’s entirely up to the individual and their personal values.

Alignment and Religion: Whether a Half Elf is well intigrated into the society in which it lives plays a large role in it’s alignment and religious preferences. Half Elves don’t tend towards cruelty so are often of a Good alignment and Half Elves that feel alienated tend towards Chaos. Still, a Half Elf may take up the religious faith that it was raised around – which includes all of the Sovereign Host and even, in certain isolated circumstances, Thir. Half-Elves that are property of a Flight in The Thousand may be taught to worship Bahamut or another of the Draconic Gods.

Ability Score Racial Traits: Half-elf characters gain a +2 bonus to one ability score of their choice at creation to represent their varied nature.Type: Half-elves are Humanoid creatures with both the human and the elf subtypes.Size: Half-elves are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.Base Speed: Half-elves have a base speed of 30 feet.Languages: Half-elves begin play speaking Common and Elven. Half-elves with high Intelligence scores can choose any languages they want (except secret languages, such as Druidic). See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.

Low-Light Vision: Half-elves can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.

Other Racial Traits

Elf Blood: Half-elves count as both elves and humans for any effect related to race.Multitalented: Half-elves choose two favored classes at first level and gain +1 hit point or +1 skill point whenever they take a level in either one of those classes.

Special Half-elves that were born and raised within Haven in New Sharn may take the archetype “Kindred Raised” – this replaces the standard racial ability school modifiers as well as adaptability, elven immunities, keen senses, and multi=talented. Due to being raised entirely be half elven parents, the half elf instead gets a +2 bonus to Charisma and a +2 bonus to the skill of their choice.